With 35 Village of Owego firefighters officially resigning on Friday, residents in the village have voiced their concern over how the department will be able to serve the community with the loss of personnel. Newly elected fire chief Dan Gavin, who assumed his new role on Sunday, stopped by the WEBO Morning Show today to discuss the issues. Gavin says that the Owego Fire Department will still be responding to calls in the village, and that held true even through this past weekend. This weekend saw a number of calls which Gavin said did not require mutual aid from other departments. He also said that despite some public perception that there will not be enough responders to battle fires, the Owego Fire Department still is responding to calls with a good number of firefighters, with about seven firefighters operating in units, with multiple units responding to routine calls. Gavin says that seven firefighters is as many as some departments see at a call all together. The Owego Fire Department still technically has a few hundred members, but not all of them are currently active in responding to calls.
